Just in time for the 2001 summer season, Busch Gardens Williamsburg unveiled Ireland, the newest of the amusement park's six zones, each themed after a different country (Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, France). The Irish flavor is sustained with landscaping and scenery, strolling musicians, retail stores, an Irish pub, and various shows, rides, and attractions. Across the Brittany Bridge, in the hamlet of Killarney, guests step inside a castle for a first-person journey into the land of Irish myth, via Corkscrew Hill: a new, high-tech attraction in which motion simulation, stereoscopic 3D video, and in-theatre effects combine to make what is known as a 4D experience.
Corkscrew Hill guests are magically miniaturized by a sprinkling of fairy dust thrown on them by a character in the preshow. Next, they are set
inside a box (the main theatre). Two boys find the box on a beach and carry the mysterious wee folk around with them to various
locations, including a pub and a witch's lair. It's a POV story as seen, heard, and felt by the inhabitants of the box. The entire experience lasts about eight minutes; the main ride is four and a half minutes long. Ride capacity is up to 1,200 guests per hour.
The Corkscrew Hill venue and theatre are retrofits. The building began life as an English castle; changing its nationality to Irish was
accomplished by Lexington Scenery & Props, which did extensive scenic work throughout the Ireland zone, about $1 million
Duncan Head Rendering
Facade Detail
worth of it on Corkscrew Hill. Under the supervision of project manager Patti Mondana, the Lexington crew installed rockwork, trees, a new fountain, and entry arches, painted and installed murals inside the building, and added chimney pots to the chimneys. Exteriors were textured, aged, and painted to give the place a dungeon-like feel, somewhat the worse for wear. Carved plaster gives the look of rotting stucco. An 18'-long tinker's wagon helps provide that village
atmosphere. Lexington worked to specs provided by designer Suzanne Sessions, whose color palette tended toward green and purple tones. The two 59-seat motion bases, provided by CAE USA (formerly Reflectone) had been installed in 1990 for the old Questor attraction. “We already had the best motion base in the industry sitting right there,”
notes Larry Giles, VP of design and engineering for Busch Gardens Williamsburg. “What we needed was a better visual side of the ride.” The twin theatres had originally been set up as large capsule simulators, with screens set into the vehicles that enclosed the motion bases. Busch decided to remove the capsule enclosures. “We took the top off to allow great visibility and put in a screen 30' high and 44' wide for a spectacular image,” says Giles. “We went to Kleiser-Walczak for the story and
visuals. The next job was figuring out how to make the experience work in the existing building, with the new screen. We went to Electrosonic, who convinced us that digital video was the way to go.”
“The roofline of the building didn't allow for a projection booth,” notes Jim Bowie, general manager of Electrosonic's Burbank office. “We would have had to build it on. On the other hand, the screen size was very large for digital imaging, and 3D added an extra challenge.”
Because the audience is sometimes only 12' from the screen (when the motion base moves forward), good picture resolution was important. The solution was to suspend, from the ceiling center, four Barco ELMR-12 projectors, rotated 90° and outfitted with .8 custom short-throw lenses designed by Coastal Optics. The image is tiled into four vertical
sections, with edges blended using Electrosonic's proprietary software. Two projectors each create the right- and left-eye views. Resolution is 1,900 by 1,280 pixels and the projection rate is 30 frames per second. “Larry Giles made us prove it would work,” remarks Bowie. “If he hadn't, our technical enthusiasm might have run wild.”
This digital projection setup is touted as providing something that approaches large-format film image quality, at least for animated ride simulation. Notes Electrosonic chairman Robert Simpson, “This display system still has a way to go before it is comparable to film contrast
levels, but it works well in this application.” A purist would probably not propose to substitute it for a full-scale Imax or Iwerks film system at this stage. But Ken Wheatley, Electrosonic's project manager for the
Corkscrew Hill theatre, indicates that it has generated quite a lot of interest for additional special-venue applications.
To give an authentic impression of how the world would appear to a miniature person, Kleiser- Walczak distorted the perspective and used severe lens angles. “We actually shrunk the [virtual] camera down in our digital mockup, and shot the whole thing with a narrow interocular
distance,” explains Kleiser-Walczak's Molly Windover, who produced the animated film, which was written and directed by Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak. The storybook look of the settings and characters was created by scene illustrator Ruth Sanderson. Executive producer was Patrick Mooney; production designer was Kent Mikalsen. Music is by Kubilay Uner.
The 3D characters were digitally sculpted by Kleiser-Walczak using FreeForm haptic software from SensAble Technologies, which uses an input device called the Phantom to give the sculptor a tactile interface that simulates physical sculpting.
It's customary in creating a ride experience of this kind to first program the motion and provide the motion data to the filmmakers, who will
animate the show to match it. But in this case, the motion programming was done after the animation. Interim mockups helped Kleiser-Walczak keep the visuals compatible with the abilities of the base and the
desirable degree of motion. “One thing that makes Corkscrew Hill different from most ride simulations is that there is no vehicle,”
Windover points out. “The box containing the audience stands in for a vehicle, but it isn't self-propelled. Its movement is dependent on others and varies from one situation to the next.” The producers dealt with this by animating the virtual camera itself to create believable POV
sequences. “For instance, there's a scene where a boy carries the box up some steps,” says Windover. “We rigged the camera with a pair of legs and animated it walking upstairs. In another scene, the box is being carried on horseback. We did a separate rig, with horse's legs, for that. Whatever or whoever is moving or grasping the box that holds the audience becomes the rig at that particular moment.”
Motion programming on the six-axis, aviation-quality motion base was done on-site in real time by CAE USA's Marty Quire and Giles. “One of the original installers of the base, Ed Templeton, came back out to work on it,” remarks Giles. “They're all very proud of the machine.”
According to Giles, the base can rise as much as 5' at its center and 10' at its edges. “The front nose can be put on the floor 9' or 10' down,” he says. “Because of the size of the base, to a certain extent each seat gives a different ride — those who want a more extreme experience learn to sit near the edges. The 3D looks pretty good from anywhere on the base.” Along with the animation, motion, and visual cues, Frank Serafine's audio production and the 7.1 channel surround-sound system go a long way toward creating a boxed-in feeling. Speakers are clustered behind the perforated screen and in the house. The final mix was done onsite. Audio system designer John Louis Schrooten of Electrosonic Systems arranged the speaker clusters left-center-right plus left surround, right surround, left rear surround, and right rear surround, plus subwoofers, all channels discrete. Two each of the left-center-right clusters were
installed behind the perforated screen to cover the full motion envelope of the simulator. The left-center- right speakers are three-way, tri-amped with discrete amplifier channel for high, mid-range, and
low frequencies. The main left and right speakers are JBL VS 3115 three-ways. The main center is JBL VS 3215-9. The surrounds are JBL SP212As; the subs are SP128S models. Audio processing is handled by eight JBL DSC260
units, four per side. The entire audio system is controlled by software using BSS SoundWeb networked to the show control system, two on each side. Audio amplification is provided by 37 QSC CX series amplifiers for the left and right sides of the theatre, in addition to the preshows and queue line. Audio is stored on a Fostex D824 hard- disk-based digital audio playback device.
Guests wear linear polarized glasses to
watch the 3D presentation. At first there was some concern about image ghosting, especially with motion involved. “Ghosting happens when you tip your head and see both images separately,” says Giles. “But we did some tests and observed that people will keep their heads upright
without thinking about it. When you tilt them one way, they
unconsciously compensate by tipping their heads the other way,” says Giles.
Peckam, Guyton, Albers & Viets, Inc. (PGAV) of St. Louis, MO, coordinated the Corkscrew Hill lighting design and Available Light of Boston did the lighting design for the village. Available Light and Sue Session Inc. (SSI), also of St. Louis, specified and positioned the lighting in the entry cave.
Corkscrew Hill audience members are automatically routed from the preshow holding areas to the next available motion theatre via the guest routing function of Electrosonic's proprietary ESCAN (Electrosonic
control area network) networking show control software, which
interfaces with an AMX system. Everything that goes on in the theatres is monitored from the main show control booth, run by interactive touchscreen. The control system ties into the E-stop and other safety systems. The show is MPEG-encoded and takes up 30 gigabytes on hard drives, stored on 14 Electrosonic HD video servers and controlled via TCP/IP network. Other show elements are also integrated into E-Scan's control, such as the high-speed doors that open from the preshow into the motion theatre, the motion data, and the in-house effects (wind, water spray, etc.)
One of Giles' favorite moments in Corkscrew Hill is when an onscreen character pokes a fork at the audience. “We programmed the machine to surge forward into the fork. It really gets a rise
out of the joined Busch was “the first guy” there, Questor “Larry Giles on and worked him,” says “He put good team to handle made sure
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BUSCH ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VA Themed Entertainment
Association Thea Awards
Busch Gardens - Ireland Retheming to Create a New Land Busch Entertainment Corporation
Vice President Creative Development: David Smith
Corporate Director, Design & Engineering: John Redlinger Corporate Director, Engineering Services: John Linn
Corporate Director, Food Service: Andrew Ngo
Corporate Director, Safety & Environmental Affairs: Damon Andrew Vice President Merchandising: Donald Eddings
Manager, Creative Design: Jumana Brodersen Designer, Creative Development: Rick Tennill
Vice President & Executive Producer: Joe Peczi Director, Show Development: Alan Stein
Executive Vice President & General Manager: Dan Brown Vice President, Engineering and Maintenance: Larry Giles Vice President, Entertainment: Linda Cuddihy
Vice President, Operations: Gregg Klich
Director, Grounds, Park Theming & Zoological: Steve Carr Landscaping Manager: Eileen Weldon
Peckham, Guyton, Albers & Viets - Architects Project Manager: Ned Diestelkamp
Project Architect: Denise Schaberg
Andre Gray, John Metheny, Jessica Boettcher
Landmark Design Group - Civil Engineering Vice President: Ronnie Orsborne
GRGV Consulting Engineers - Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing Engineering
Principal: William Weinaug, Jr. Raymond Clark (mechanical) Daniel Christman (electrical)
EDM Consulting Engineers, Inc. - Structural Engineering President: John Sonderman
Mel Young
Suzanne Sessions, Inc. - Theme Designer Principal: Sue Sessions Project Manager: Kim Wilson
Senior Designer: Wanda Whalen
Landmark Entertainment Group - Theater Production Vice President Design: Chuck Cancilier
Vice President, Senior Producer: Ted King Tony Christopher
CAE (Reflectone) - Simulator Modifications Motion Programmer: Marty Quire
Electrosonic Systems, Inc. - Simulator Project Manager: Ken Wheatley
Systems Project Concept and Design: Jim Bowie Video System Technical Manager: John Notarnicola Video Software Engineer: Vince Hann
Systems Software Engineer: Andy Gregory
Custom PDA Application Development: Jay Morrison Audio System Designer: John Louis
Show Control Programmer: Oliver Pemberton Production Manager: Vaughn Howes
Lead System Fabrication: John Mora
Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co. - Simulator Film President: Jeff Kleiser
Executive Producer: Patrick Mooney Director: Diane Walczak Henderson, Inc. - General Contractor President: Pete Henderson Project Manager: Rick Logan Estimator: Paul Bollinger
Superintendent: Joe Conner
Chewning & Wilmer, Inc. - Electrical Contractors President: Bill Powell
Project Manager: Art Nelson Supervisor: Darrell Rettig
Harrison Williams Fixtures, Inc. - Fixtures Sales Manager: Chris Burns
Lexington - Scenery & Props
Chief Executive Officer: Frank Bencivengo Estimator: Frank Mondana
Project Manager: Patti Mondana Scenic Artist: Joti Rodar
Modern Machine & Tool Company - Show Action Equipment President: Brent Meadows
Vice President Administration: Rex Gay
Wood & Wood Sign Systems - Signs President: Richard "Sparkey" Potter
Animax Designs, Inc. - Animation President: Chuck Fawcett Castle O'Sullivan Show
Landmark Entertainment Group
Executive Producer/writer, Gary Goddard Executive Producer, Tony Christopher
Executive Producer/Show design/Writer, Ted King Writer/Director, Robert De Lapp
Art Director, Bob Baranik
Music composed & scored by: Gary Guttman Music Recorded by: Seattle Symphony
Executive Producer, Mark Thomas Producer, Josh Cottrell
Technical Director, Chris Balsman Asst. Tech. Director, Josh Updike Asst. Tech. Director, Dan Coats Jon Baker Productions
Sound Design/Engineer, Jon Baker Sound Engineer, Bill Komar Visual Terrain
Lighting Designer, Erin Powel
Executive Designer,Lighting, Dawn Hollingsworth
Candella Controls - Lighting Systems Provider Lighting Programmer, Mike Neal
Change to Systems Engineer/Project Mgr., Bill Ellis Installation Technician, Chris Gallaher
Electrosonic Systems
Field Service Engineer, Michael Wheatley Systems Engineer, Ken Wheatley Systems Audio Designer, John Louis
Lexington
Project Manager, Justin Lababouche George & Goldberg
Project Manager, Denise Blachowski Project Lead, Brian Quinn Foundation Imaging
Project Manager, Steve Pugh Triad - Show Control
Show Control Programmer, Phil Bock Project Manager, William Synhorst
Proj. Mgr./Installation /Show Programming, Phil Brock HSC on site interface, setup, pre-programming, "Dutch" Folckemer Animatronics & FX Programming, Frank Gaughan Shop Manager & Fabrication, Roger Hunt
Testing, Installation, Documentation, Michael Landon Best Shot Cannons
Project Manager, Noah Winters
Account Executive Executive, Dena Sterr Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Creative Supervisor/Animatronic Leprechaun, David Barrington-Holt The O'Shea School of Irish Dancing
Creative Producer/ Talent Provider, Seamus O'Shea
Creative Producer/ Talent Provider, Aine O'Shea Choreographer/ Dance Director, Dara O'Shea
KB Associates
Lighting Designer, Ken Billington
Lighting Designer, Jason Kantrowitz Associate Lighting Designer, John Demous
Kenneth Foy Designs Scenic Design, Kenneth Foy Adirondack Scenics
Scenic Fabrication, Tom Lloyd Busch Gardens, Williamsburg
Music Direction/Vocal Arranger, Gary Lensenmayer Show Director, Deana DeHart
Executive Producer, Linda Cuddihy Technical Manager, Pat Orndorff Costume Designer, Shari McGhee
Costume Shop Manager, Karen Burnhardt Entertainment Director, Pete Dunklee
Busch Entertainment
VP & Executive Producer, Joe Peczi O'Foglu Music
Irish Music Writer/Arranger, Colm O'Foglu SeaWorld, Orlando
